Automatic brake for railway-cars.



H. HARDER.

AUTOMATIC BRAKE Foa RAILWAY GARS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 30, 1913.

1,127,886. Patented Feb.9,1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 1.

- /V/ Twas-555 /v VE/V TUR. i? M HUMA/HAM A.

H. HARDER. AUTOMATIC BRAKE FOR IAILWAY GARS.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. so. 191s.

Y1 ,127,886, *Y Patented Feb. 9,A 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHBT z.

HERMAN HARDER, OF BELLINGH'AM, WASHINGTON. Y

AUTOMATIC BRAKE FUR RALWA'Y-.CARS

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb.'9,1915

Applioationiled. AugustI 30, 1913. Serial No. 787,471.

ToaZZ whom t may concern Be it known that I, HERMAN HARDER, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of the city of Bellingham ini` the State of Washington, in the United States of America, have invented certain new Aand useful Improvements in Automatic Brakesfor Railroad-Cars. ofy which the following is a specification.

My invention relates toimprovements iny automatic brakes for railroad cars, and the like, and the object of my invention to devise animproved form of automatic brake which can be put into actionrv from any part of the train in a simple manner and which shall deriveits braking action froml the axle of the car in suchy a manner as to apply.

such action automatically to the Wheels t0,l

effectively bring, the carsto a. stop.

A further object is to devise an improved form of automatic` brake which shall be of simple construction, easy to get aty for ex.

amination and repairs, and comparativelyl inexpensive toinstall andv maintain.k

I attain these objects by thek construction illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings4 in Which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of` a part of a flat car with the near side Wheels removed, showing the, application of myl brake thereto, the brake being in the od position. Fig. 2 is aside elevation similar tov that` shown in Fig. l, showing my brake in action. Fig. 3 is aV front elevation ofFig,` l. Fig. lis a perspective view4 ofthe main.

lever. p

Similar figures refer tor similar parts throughout the several views.

l represents the car axles.

2 isa, frictionpulley fitted on one axle forl the purpose of driving the mechanismto sety the brake, as hereinafter more fully described. Friction pulley 3 is the main pul.

ley of thebralre mechanism, driven by pulley 2 when the brake is being set.

t is a lsprocket driven by pulley 3 by means of a chain 5 andthe sprocket 6 being formed integrally with, or secured tightly to, the pulley 3.-

8 isa shaft or bolt which carries the pul-` ley 8, and on which the pulley 3 and its sprocket 6 revolve; the shaft S'being held' from turningin its support 9 by any suitable means.

10 is a shafty Whichcarries the sprocket 4e, the same4 being secured' to the shaft to im,

beinglv free to revolve in its bearings l1.

l0 is an. enlargement provided on, the.

sprocket a which servesl to prevent lateral movement of the shaft, 10. Thisl shaft. l() isextended on both ends, the extensions being, supported by: the brackets l2,` which are secured to the floor beams 13 of the car, shownwmore particularly in Fig, 3. One bracket only isfshowng, the other issimilar toit, however, and secured inthe same manner.` Bearings le:v are provided at the lower extremities of thevbrackets 12in which the shaft, 10 is, free to revolve; the brackets themselves being rigidly braced to the car bythe side braces '15, shown in `Figs. 1 and 'i6E is a chain secured to the shaft 10 and adapted to be Woundaround the shaft when thefbrake is in action, and thereby to exert apulling force on vthe brake lever 17, to which it is attached, as shown.

18y is a rod connected at one end to` the brake lever 17 and at its other end to the brake beam 19. 2 0fis'a rod connectingy the brake lever 17 to the other brake beam2l.

22 represent the brake shoes.

23ers the car Wheels.

24 is the main lever which carries theVv brake mechanism, and, which is formed preferably as shown in Figi. It is made in tivo duplicate parts, having formed 8, andl 10 respectively.

25 is ak slotfor opening in which the pulley 3, the sprockets 6, ande and the endless chain 5 revolve.

26 is a U bolt provided in the main lever 24 to secure the lower end of the spring.. 27, which acts against the upper surface of the lever 24: to force itdovvnward whenV the le ver is released and'in its operative position.

28 are eye bolts secured in the lever 241' to, which the chains 29 are attached at their lower extremities, the purpose of these chains being to raise up the levery from its operative position, as shownin Fig. 2, to its inoperative; position, as shown in Fig. l, this being accomplished by having the up per ends of the chains 29 attached to the shaft 3U, Whichshaft isy adapted to be revolvedy by means ofthe gear 3l meshing withthe gear 32, actuated by the hand Wheel 33j through suitable shafting 34 and 35 and other suitable gears (not shown) disposed at the yend of the car,y so that when the shaftV 30 is revolved in the proper direction it will wind the chains 29 around it and thus raise the lever 24.

36 and 37 are suitable bearings provided to carry the shaft 30, and these are secured to the framework 38 by any approved means. The framework 38 may be of any approved construction, according to the requirements, and is here yshown built of structural steel, for the purpose of illustration.

39 is a steel plate bolted or riveted to the framework 38'for the purpose ofcarrying the upper end of the spring 27, which is held thereto bythe U bolt 39a.

40 represents the braces by which the framework 38 may be rigidly braced to the car structure.

41 is a spring lever by means of which the brake mechanism, as carried by the lever 24, may be held in its inoperative position, or released to drop intoits koperative position.

42 is a plate spring, secured at one end to the lower extremity of the lever 41, and at its upper end to the plate 43, which is fastened to the framework 38 for the purpose of carrying the spring. This spring 42 gives thel lever 41 its spring action.

44 "is a block, secured to the plate 43, against which the back of the lever 41 strikes to prevent its being pulled too far back and thus obviate any possibility of the spring 42 breaking at the bend.

45 is a rope connected to an eye 46 formed in the upper end of the lever 41, and which may be led to any convenient parts of the train, so that, when the rope 45 is pulled the lever 24 may be released to drop into the operative position, as shown in Fig. 2.

47 is a notch in the lever 24 into which the lever 41 engages so that it will be normally in alinement centrally with the lever 24, both levers being so formed as to eficiently engage one another to keep the lever 24 in its raised position when the mechanism is raised, as shown at 48 in Fig. 1.

49 are the bolts for holding the duplicate parts of the lever 24 together.

50 are the rails.

51 is the floor of the car.

Having now indicated the principal parts of my invention, I will now describe the manner in which it operates. The device being installed on a car, as illustrated in the drawings, it is normally carried in the position shown in Fig. 1, that is, the brakes are ofl When it is desired' to put on the brakes and stop the cars, the rope 45, which is led to convenient parts of the train, isk

pulled, thus drawing the engaging point of the lever 41 away from under the lever 24, when the lever 24 immediately drops, bringing the pulley 3 into frictional engagement with the pulley 2, against which it is tightly held by the spring 27.r As the cars are moving and the pulley 2 is turning with the i axle, thepulleyi-lv immediately begins to revolve, thereby causing the sprocket 4 and the shaft 10 to revolve simultaneously by means of the endless chain 5 and the sprocket G. The turning of the shaft 10 causes the chain 16 to wind around the shaft and this pulls the brake lever17 in toward the shaft and draws the brake shoes 22 tightly against the rims of the wheels 23 by means of the rods 18 and 20 acting on the brake beams 19 and 21, thus braking the wheels, and bringing the cars to a standstill.

`When itis desired to raise the brake mechanism, the shaft 30 is turned by means of f the hand wheel 33 and the gears 31 and 32,

` causing the chains 29 to'wind around the shaft and raise the lever 24 until the lever 41 springs back to engage underneath the lever 24 to hold it in the raised position, when, the compression of the spring 27 being regained owing to the spring being compressed between the lever 24 yand the plate 39, the device is ready for further action.

It will be seen, therefore, that I have devised an improved form of automaticbrake for railroad cars which can be'conveniently operated from any point of the train, and which yshall derive its braking action from the car axle in such a manner as to apply such action automatically to the wheels to effectively bring the cars to a stop.

It will be seen further, that I have devised an automatic brakeof simple construction, easy of access for examination and repair, and comparatively inexpensive to install and maintain.

vWhat I claim as my invention is- 1. In an automatic brake for railway cars, the combination with the brake shoes, brake beam and operating lever, of ay suitably mounted turnable member, a main lever swung at one end thereon, a. frictional drive mounted upon one of the car axles, la cov acting driving member mounted upon the lever, a driving connection between the co` acting driving member and turnable member, a flexible connection between the turnable member and the operating lever, spring compression means extending between the free end of the lever and the body of the car, means for releasably supporting the free end 'of the lever against the compression means and manual means for drawing the spring acting driving member and turnablek member, a flexible conneetion'between the turn- Y able member and the operating lever, spring main lever', a brake mast and hand wheel therefor, and connecting gears between the brake mast and the turnable member, as and for the purpose speced.

Dated at Bellingham, Wash., this 31stV day 15 of July 1913.

HERMAN HARDER. Witnesses:

L. R. MULLEN, CHRIS J. SORENSEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G. 

